As a kid I remember my '38 in my grandparent's garage. I never saw it move. I never heard the engine run. It was just a giant space-taker.
Flash forward to today...
I had been asking my grandmother for years and years if I could buy the car. She assured me that no one else wants the car, but she never said I could buy it and that distressed me.
Don't get me wrong, I was happy not to have to pay money for something that would be an even bigger expense. What was a point of great concern was my aunt. My aunt has always valued certain things. As long as I can remember, she lofted up status symbols such as IQ, SAT scores, posessions and, of course, money.
My biggest fear was that she would see the dollar signs in her eyes and then that would be the end of my dreams of owning and restoring the car. Sadly, my grandmother died in May 2004 and as my grief subsided, my concerns escalated. I made it absolutly clear to my mother (the executor of the estate) that I wanted the car. I asked if I could buy it from the estate and she told me that would not be necessary.
Well, to make a long story slightly longer... Mom came through for me and told my aunt that I WAS getting the car. My only responsibility was moving it 4 miles down the road and into my garage.
The tires looked like they would tollerate rolling. At least they had been supporting the car for 50 years or so. I called a local towing company. I asked them a few of questions about their dealings with old cars and felt confident that they could do the job. One of their drivers showed up with a flat bed and hooked up a cable. I got to "drive" it back out of the garage. After an uneventful trip to my house, he lowered it down and, with a little pushing, we rolled it into the garage with my wife at the wheel. I was supprised how easy things went. The only thing remarkable that happened was that the guy's lift blew a hydrolic line, spraying fluid all over my driveway.
Before, during and after, I took plenty of pictures. If you're interested, you can check this page out here:
http://www.therhodeislandreview.com/recreation/1938cadillac65/1938cadillac65.html
